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Summary
Migration
is an essential component of the ongoing process of globalization. Large
numbers of migrants from Third-World countries leave their homes and
settle in so-called advanced economies where they have to find a living.
Many of them, of course, do so by looking for a job. Others, however,
venture on starting their own businesses in the country of settlement.
In many cities of advanced economies, we now find significant numbers of
immigrants from Third-World countries who have set up shops themselves.
As such, we can position these entrepreneurs at the intersection of, on
the one hand, global processes of migration, and, on the other, of
structural changes in these advanced urban economies. This specific way
of economic insertion, therefore, clearly shows how immigrants, using
their own resources, not only make use of existing opportunities but are
also able to create new opportunities.
With
the increase in numbers of immigrants in most advanced economies in the
last decade of the 20th century, there has also been an increase in
immigrant entrepreneurship. This remarkable rise is now the subject of
an international research project, which is funded by the European Union
under the Targeted Socio-Economic Research programme. The research team
includes social scientists (sociologists, geographers, anthropologists,
economists, and historians) from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,
France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, United
Kingdom and the United States. The aim of this project is, first of all,
to get an overview of the recent developments with regard to immigrant
entrepreneurship in the different countries. Secondly, to review the
research on the subject. Thirdly, to get a improve our understanding on
the meaning of immigrant entrepreneurship both for the immigrants and
the society at large. This latter approach will also serve as a
departure for the policy implications. 
The volume aims at presenting both an international comparison of the
development of immigrant entrepreneurship in a number of advanced
economies and an assessment of theoretical approaches with regard to
this issue. Our basic assumption is that entrepreneurship is, in a
certain way, the product of national-specific ideas and practices of
economic incorporation. In the same vein, we assume that research of
entrepreneurship is informed by such ‘national models’ of
incorporation, as is shown, for instance, by the specific focus and
appreciation of entrepreneurial activities, and the use of specific
terms and concepts. Only when the existence and impact of such models is
fully acknowledged, it is possible to really understand the typical way
in which immigrants incorporate economically. And, moreover, only then
it is possible to appreciate theory, especially theory that has been
developed on the basis of a specific empirical case. Systematic
international comparison allows for the identification of such national
models of incorporation.
In
a sense, one could see this book as a successor to the volume Ethnic Entrepreneurs. Immigrant Business in Industrial Societies by
Roger Waldinger, Howard Aldrich, Robin Ward and Associates, published by
Sage in 1990. Our book first of all offers a much more recent systematic
update of the developments with respect to immigrant entrepreneurship.
Given the fact that the last decade has seen a significant rise of
immigrant entrepreneurs in advanced economies this is of especially
importance. Secondly, with 13 countries, a much broader international
overview is given, with attention for both general developments and
national particularities. Thirdly, a state-of-the-art review of
theoretical developments concerning immigrant entrepreneurship is given,
again with special reference to the place of these theories in the
debates in each country. In this field, developments have occurred quite
rapidly. One of the theoretical innovations that took place after the
publication of the book by Waldinger, Aldrich, Ward and others, was the
rise of economic sociology—particularly in the United States—with
its typical focus on social capital. However, it has become clear that
these kind of theories fall short, as they fail to appreciate the
institutional framework as an important factor in determining the both
the extent and the incidence of immigrant entrepreneurship in different
countries. This factor inescapably come to the fore when comparing
countries with rather extensive welfare systems such as many European
countries and Australia, with countries with a lean welfare system, such
as the United States and Britain. As such, the book offers not
only an up-to-date reference book on immigrant entrepreneurship in
advanced economies, but also a significant contribution to business
studies, migration studies, urban studies and comparative economic
sociology.
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Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
1 Introduction
Robert C. Kloosterman and Jan
Rath
2 United States: The Entrepreneurial Cutting Edge
Pyong Gap Min and Mehdi
Bozorgmehr
3 Canada: A False Consensus
Daniel Hiebert
4 Australia: Cosmopolitan Capitalists Down Under
Jock Collins
5 South Africa: Creating New Spaces?
Sally Peberdy and Christian M.
Rogerson
6 United Kingdom: Severely Constrained Entrepreneurialism
Giles A. Barrett, Trevor P.
Jones and David McEvoy
7 The Netherlands: A Dutch Treat
Jan Rath and Robert C.
Kloosterman
8 Italy: Between Legal Barriers and Informal Arrangements
Mauro Magatti and Fabio
Quassoli
9 France: The Narrow Path
Emmanuel Ma Mung and Thomas
Lacroix
10 Belgium: From Proletarians to Proteans
Ching Lin Pang
11Austria: Still a Highly
Regulated Economy
Regina Haberfellner
12 Germany: From Workers to Entrepreneurs
Czarina Wilpert
On the authors
References
Index
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